Nifmerge issues/merge heads for old skyrim

[Dirtnap]

I've been playing the original Skyrim with all DLC because skse isn't out for sse yet.

 

Trying to create a standalone follower in CK but it kicks out what I assume is an sse compatible .nif head that will not open in nifmerge. I can't figure out how to get my characters exact face going on this. Is there any workaround for this to either force it to read in nifmerge or merge them somehow without it? 

 

Thanks for any advice!